Mahathir Mohamad, the former prime minister of Malaysia, said in a Facebook post in an attempt to explain his remarks about reclaiming Singapore and the Riau Islands, saying that he was “mocking” the idea.
He cited Pedra Branca and referred to it as Pulau Batu Puteh, claimed that reports quoting him were “not accurate”.
Mahathir’s statement
OUT OF CONTEXT
1. The report on what I said at the meeting with Malays is not accurate. I am not asking Malaysia to claim the land that we had lost. I am trying to point out that we are so concerned over losing a table-size rock but never about bigger parts of Malaysia when they were taken from us. Losing Pulau Batu Puteh is no big deal. It was the mistake of the Johore Government to deny that the rock belonged to Johor. Had that denial not been made, there would be no dispute now.
2. We should be grateful that the world court awarded Pulau Ligitan and Sipadan to us. They are much more valuable than Pulau Batu Puteh – just a rock outcrop. We should be thankful that Indonesia has not disputed the award. Really, we are not grateful for our gains.
DR MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
23 JUNE 2022
Kena hantam by netizens
Pedra Branca (or Pulau Batu Puteh, according to Mahathir)
Singapore currently holds sovereignty over Pedra Branca after a ruling by the International Court of Justice in 2008.
Mahathir claimed that Malaysia “lost” Pedra Branca to Singapore but it is worth highlighting that they didn’t “lose” the “table-sized rock” to Singapore because the sovereignty of the island was not transferred from Malaysia to Singapore – the ICJ ruled that Pedra Branca belonged to Singapore all along.